Corrupted
by Blue Eyed Sins
Summary: Before confronting the Mystic Falls gang, Kol had a young witch, Claire, link his life force to her power. The spell allows him to return to life after he's staked, but has some unexpected consequences. It leaves Claire all-powerful but burdened with Kol's darkest aspects, while Kol is powerless and with more humanity than he ever wanted to deal with. [kol x oc]
1. Prologue: Corrupted

Prologue

Kol glanced at the young witch in front of him. Her eyes were narrowed with inexperience as she poured over the Grimoire left to her by ancestors long dead and turned to dust, buried in coffins six feet under. He didn't need experience though, just power, and this girl was powerful. That didn't mean it wasn't slightly annoying.

He pushed past her, looking down at the book himself, reading the old style handwriting with ease great than hers. "It's simple really, just not something usually done." Kol said, a hint of arrogance. "The spell will link my life to your power as a witch and the nature that you channel. If I die, that link will remain and the channelled power would restore my soul back to my body after a short amount of time.

"And how will that affect me?" The young witch asked, looking back at the words and still failing to find full meaning in it. He couldn't blame her though. This was a spell that Kol had been seeking out for years. He'd seen it written in this book when her ancestors penned it, the girl descending from New Orleans witches, and she'd had little knowledge of her real power until he'd filled her in.

"Not greatly. You'll have to remain close for me in order for the connection to be maintained, but as you'll be channelling nature, it shouldn't have any negative effects on you at all." He told her. It was very true. The basis of this spell focused on connections to the witch, but not to her life, so she wouldn't suffer any bodily pain or mental problems as far as he knew.

Kol hadn't actually seen the spell performed, so he couldn't really attest to that, but he wasn't going to worry her any more than necessary.

The girl glanced up, her dark hair shifting over her face before she shoved it out of the way and behind her ears, so her blue eyes could carefully watch him. "How long will that be? I have a life you know."

Kol took a step forward, smiling in a manner befitting a real gentleman. "I know, darling, and I can promise you that it won't be for more than a few days." He paused, to give the following words more meaning. "I'll make it more than worth your while." He whispered.

He was an original vampire. If this girl wanted a castle in Paris in exchange for helping him, she would get it without him batting an eyelid. It might seem extravagant, but no one in history could ever deny that Kol Mikaelson didn't pay his debts. In previous centuries, there had been witches, vampires and humans alike that clambered to volunteer to aid him in anything, simply because they knew the benefits were astounding.

She seemed to catch his drift and nodded. "Okay. I'll do it."

His smile was relived, but then again he'd never been worried. If she hadn't agreed willingly, he could have just threatened a family member or something like that. Painting blood over people's walls did wonders for cooperation. Thankfully it didn't come to that.

Rebekah had called him less than a day ago and dragged him to Mystic Falls to aid in her search for the vampire cure, and Kol had been shocked at what that truly meant, but the surprise was nothing compared to the rage he felt at the unwillingness of the Mystic Falls citizens to not raise hell on Earth. The vampires he was going to deal with were nothing more than silly little children and if they didn't give up their search, he would rip out all their hearts and crush them before the light went out in their eyes.

He had the stake in his position, in his coat pocket at that very moment, but he wasn't above taking extra precautions.

If they did manage to kill him, this would all ensure his death would never prevail.

"Thank you, darling." He said, grinning down at her, flashing those perfect vampire teeth, both enticing and threatening at the very same time. "I'll talk you through the spell, if you like."


	2. Chapter 1: Wounded

Chapter 1: Wounded

"Oh my god, could you slow down!" Claire was clutching at the edges of her car seat while Kol glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, amused at her reaction.

"No. I've got somewhere I have to be and I need to be there now." He replied, though the girl's fear made him a little uneasy. As soon as she'd performed the spell, he got her to pack up a few things before they got in the car and began to head back to Mystic Falls, with Kol having found Claire a few states away. It had become immediately evident in the few hours they'd been in the car together, that the spell wasn't easy for one glaring reason, and that was the literal link that it created between them.

Kol didn't like being in tune with someone else's feelings. It made him quite uncomfortable but that was the sacrifice one had to make to ensure that they didn't die. He had the white oak stake, but considering the rounds it had made since it was created, it wasn't at all impossible that some other person would get a hold of it and use it against him. While he wasn't planning on letting it come to that, he didn't want to take any chances.

He wasn't afraid of death, but he didn't want to die.

"I don't like this." Claire muttered, refusing to look at him and still digging her nails into the seat.

"Which part, darling?"

"All of this. Why did I agree to this?" She questioned, her whispers more to herself than him.

"Because I would have killed someone to get my way." Kol interjected casually, finally earning her attention as her head swung around to face him, the expression on her face one of horror. "Just kidding."

He wasn't, and if she felt the same connection he did, she would probably realize it too, and her own unease was pretty obvious to him. Slightly reluctant, he slowed down the car slightly.

Before he'd left Mystic Falls, he'd compelled a vampire that was passing through the town tail his brother and let him know if anything out of the ordinary happened and that vampire had been alarmingly quick to notify him that Klaus had gone to the middle of nowhere to try and take Jeremy Gilbert on a vampire hunting road trip, and then had proceeded to set a number of new vampires on him in order to force him to complete the hunter's mark.

The mark was a map to the cure, and that cure would lead them all to Silas, and it wasn't something he was about to let happen and if Jeremy happened to complete his Hunter's mark before Kol could stop him, he planned on ending his life without any thought. He might not be able to kill the hunter with his own two hands, having seen his brother suffer from the effects of the Hunter's Curse, but that didn't mean he couldn't compel a third party to do it, and he would. Of course, if worst came to worst, he would do the deed himself.

* * *

Claire would at least admit that things could be worse. She didn't really know how she ended up doing a spell and entering into a deal with an Original vampire, but she had heard about Kol Mikaelson and she knew that whenever he made someone an offer, it was worthwhile.

She was fairly new to witchcraft but the animosity the servants of nature had against the vampires was obvious even to a newbie, and while she doubted her sanity about being part of some deal, was it really the worst things in the world to be on the good side of an Original?

She didn't think so.

The witch sighed and tossed herself down on the bed in her hotel room. She was a few towns over from Mystic Falls and Kol had compelled her the best room in the place that he'd dropped her off at - and it really was the best. The place had an amazing spa bath and the food in the mini-bar was complimentary.

Determined to enjoy it, she pulled herself back up and headed into the bathroom, taking off her clothing as she made the walk there before turning on the water and pouring some of the coloured bubble bath mixture into the tub. She looked through her toiletries bag until she found a hair tie and pulled her hair up into a bun as she waited for the water to reach and appropriate level.

Claire switched the tap off before hitting the button to start the water jets, finally climbing into the almost searing water and letting herself slide down into it.

She wasn't accustomed to this kind of luxury, but she wasn't going to complain about it. Claire had always considered herself as someone that had little issue when it came to adaptation - and she was certainly adapting to this.

Claire closed her eyes and rested her head up against the edge, able to fully relax now that he body was accustomed to the temperature of the water, letting herself doze off a little.

* * *

Kol let out a small laugh as he saw the name on the phone, clicking the button on his headphones to answer it, though he was slightly anoyed that his music was interrupted for the sake of Jeremy's annoying voice.

"Jeremy Gilbert. Nice to see I'm still on your speed dial, mate. Hey, you want to meet up at the batting cages in Denver?" Kol joked, putting a good show of sounding entirely sincere.

"Actually, it's Elena Gilbert."

That wasn't expected, but Kol could adjust his moment of playful jesting to accommodate her easily.

"What a treat. Yeah, I was just thinking of all the clever ways I could have your brother killed, but I'd settle for ripping off his illustrated arm instead."

"I need to talk to you – in person." She replied, ignoring his death threats. "I wanna call a truce, in the name of Silas."

Kol came to a stop in the street.

He didn't know what he was expecting from this phone call, but it wasn't calling a truce. When he found out that it was the doppelganger, he thought maybe she would go on some speech about how her brother was the only family she had.

_'Please don't kill my precious brother! Oh whatever will I do without him?'_

That was more along the lines of what he thought would come out of her mouth.

"You want to talk about Silas?" He questioned, his disbelief and suspicion obvious. Kol had pretty much made up his mind by that point that tonight's visit to the Gilbert house was going to end with the map to the cure destroyed, and possibly with both of them dead, even with the threat of the hunter's curse.

"I'll meet you wherever you want. I'll come to you." She said through the phone and Kol smirked a little. Of course she wanted that, because then she could be prepared for their meeting.

It took him a split second to decide that he would attempt a truce, or at the very lest he would humor her by considering it, but it would be on his terms.

"I'll tell you what. How about I come to you?"

* * *

Claire had little idea how much time had passed when she finally forced herself to sit up in the bath and actually considering getting out. Most of the bubbles had dispersed into the water, but the temperature itself was still quite warm, which didn't make getting out any easier.

She pulled her arms up over her head, stretching her limbs out before she finally stood up. Claire turned around, reaching for the towel that she'd hung up next to the bath when a searing pain shot through her leg.

"Ow." She cried out, glancing down to where she could feel her flesh crying out in agony. The skin right about her knee was torn in a small line, like something had been plunge through it, and it hurt like hell. She wasn't exactly used to the pain of being stabbed, so it was the worse that she'd ever experienced.

Little did she know, it was about to get a whole lot worse

* * *

"Well, if it isn't the happy homicidal maniac." The mere sound of his brother's voice was infuriating for Kol. The Original was already angry, but Klaus made things worse because Kol was certain that he was involved.

"Did you know that your darling former blood bag and her brother are trying to kill me?" Kol's words were livid, and accusatory. He was certain Klaus meant to kill him, just like Rebekah had intended to dagger him. A thousand years and they'd finally reached the point where they would chose something as petty as the cure over their own flesh and blood, even if it meant permanently destroying him.

"What?"

"Don't pretend like you're not in on it!" Kol's voice was rising from it's previous his. "Your obsession to find the cure clearly trumps any sibling loyalty you once felt." He spat.

No matter what he was, no matter what he'd done, Kol could say with absolute certainty what his siblings could not. And that was that he would _never _ considering taking one of their lives, even for his own gain.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Klaus replied, though his tone had grown dark and his words still held little stock for his younger brother.

"I'm going to rip off Jeremy's arm and kill Elena just for sport. Then I'm coming for you." He hung up the phone and slipped it back into his pocket as he walked through the hallway, catching sight of Elena at the top of the staircase. Kol only had time to register the fact that this supposedly 'innocent' vampire was holding a crossbow before one of the arrows made it's way into his leg.

He groaned in pain as Elena disappeared in a flash, quick to pull out the arrow so that the wound could heal.

The murderous look in his eyes had only grown more intense as he made to go after her.

* * *

Claire had jumped out of the bath and made to press the towel against her leg in some attempt to stop the flow of blood, when the pain suddenly ceased. Glancing down, the young witch watched as it closed before her eyes, leaving no trace of even a scar that would suggest what had happened.

The only sign that she wasn't insane was the trickles of blood that had made their way down her leg, now looking like they had simply come from nothing.

"What the hell?" She muttered. She hadn't exactly signed up for this when she'd did the spell for Kol. Nor had she expected to suddenly have parts of her body punctured.

In fact, she didn't understand this at all. Kol had said that the spell shouldn't cause her any physical pain at all, and now she was suddenly feeling like she'd been slammed into a wall and punched multiple times.

Feeling lightheaded, Claire hurriedly mopped at the blood on her leg and then wrapped a second towel around her body before dropping to the cool bathroom floor and leaning against the wall. Her eyes were closed as she waited for the reprieve from the dull pain she was experience - just like how the wound had healed - but it didn't come.

"Ah!" Claire suddenly clutched at her chest as blood spread through the towel, an imaginary force tearing at different spots all over her body. She cried out in pain, feeling like she'd been shot. "What is happening to me?" She moaned, pressing her hands to the different holes torn into her skin before they started to heal a few seconds later.

The were tears rolling down her cheeks as she continued to wipe the blood off of her body, only just getting herself clean before another invisible forced sliced through her shoulder, pushing deeper and deeper into the skin as she cried out in pain.

Stars danced in front of her eyes for a moment before the pain burst through her heart that time. It was by far the worst of them all and she screamed and cried while blood flowed from her mouth before everything went dark and her body fell to the ground.


	3. Chapter 2: The Other Side of Death

Chapter 2: On The Other Side of Death

When Claire opened her eyes, she was looking down at her body. She was spread over the hotel floor, eyes closed and blood still dripping from her chest. The wound looked like it had gone straight through her heart, and parts of the skin around it weren't just red with blood, but had raw markings that looked like burns as well.

"Oh my god." She whispered. "Am I dead?"

The terrified young witch knelt down beside her body, looking for any signs of life, but it didn't seem too hopeful, given the fact that she could clearly see all that blood.

"You're not dead." A voice beside her suddenly said and she jumped before catching sight of Kol, standing to her right.

Claire quickly drew herself to her feet, her expression one of rage as she glared at the vampire. "Then what the hell am I?"

He sighed and pointed towards her. 'You're breathing. Can't you see?" Claire's eyes narrowed in disbelief, but she turned around slowly and carefully watched the chest of her body, finally seeing a breath here and there that confirmed she was still alive. "I didn't realize the spell would work like this, but to bring me back from the other side, I'm guessing you have to actually be here."

She met his eyes again. "So, you died?"

Kol nodded, though he didn't look particularly concerned about that fact, which she assumed had to be because of his preparation for that possibility. "And it looks like you felt all of it."

The memory of all the pain flashed through her mind and she glared, filled with rage. "You said that nothing bad would happen to me! I felt every damn part of your death and it was agony." Her voice rose with every word and her eyes were narrow slits.

Kol breathed an impatient sigh. "I had no idea that this would happen." He actually didn't, but it looked like Claire had no reason to believe him. After all, he had openly admitted that he would threaten someone she cared about to get her to perform the spell if she hadn't done it willingly. Why couldn't he have been lying about that. "I'm telling the truth, and I'm sorry about what happened, but I still need you to finish the task."

He took a hold of her arm and with a blink of an eye, they were standing in the living room at the Gilbert house. The first thing that caught his eye was Klaus' manic rage directed at Elena, Jeremy and apparently Bonnie as well. He remembered Jeremy noting that Bonnie was close behind and it didn't surprise him that she was in on the plan to kill him too.

"Witch, you can't do this to me!" His brother hissed and the Bennett Witch, struggling with what appeared to be a barrier she'd placed against him, trapping him in the confines of the room.

"You have no idea what I can do now." Bonnie whispered, not a hint of regret in her eyes. A soft hiss escaped from between Kol's teeth as he glared, almost forgetting about Claire standing by his side.

"I will hunt all of you to your end! Do you hear me? Do you!?" Klaus screamed, proceeding to smash against the barrier trapping him, only to be forced backwards by the force of the magic.

"Is that your..."

"He's my brother. A charming creature that one." Kol muttered darkly, turning back around to face that young witch, whose gaze had no turned away from Klaus and to the still smoking corpse in the kitchen.

"Oh my god." She whispered, stepping closely towards Kol's body, just as Klaus turned to face it too. Kol watched as Klaus tried to reach him, only to be thrown back once more, leaving him only able to look at the body but do nothing for him.

Kol turned his back on Klaus, watching Claire carefully as she looked down at his burned up form.

"Do you remember how to finish the spell?" He asked her, stepping forward so that he was by her side. He dared to actually properly look at his body, and the charred flesh was anything but pretty. It almost wounded him to see himself look so grotesque when he was a self professed mirror lover. Still, it didn't matter. He knew that when Claire completed the spell, his body would rejuvenate. He would be craving blood to an insane amount, but everything would heal and he would be alive. That was all he cared about.

He may have lived for a thousand years, but Kol wasn't ready for death yet.

Claire nodded, leaning down beside his body. "I remember."

She reached behind her and held out her hand towards Kol, who didn't hesitate in taking it. Taking his other hand, she placed it on his body before closing her eyes and speaking the words Kol had made her memorize. _"Hoc ex anima ad corpus. Hoc ex hac vita animae, et renovare. Hoc ex anima ad corpus."_

A wind, unable to be felt by the living, raged through the world of the dead, rushing through their hair and rustling their clothes. Claire continued to chant and Kol continued to wait. After a minute or two, he felt a hard tug on his very soul, tearing through his chest, and he begin to scream as he was wrenched away from Claire's grasp.

The pain was unimaginable, and he blacked out for a second before opening his eyes once more and tearing himself up from the floor, breathing heavily and clutching at his chest.

"Kol?" A strangled voice came from near him and Kol turned to meet Klaus' eyes. "You're alive?"

Kol coughed, clearing his throat and previously charred lungs. "Protection spell, brother. Do you honestly thing I'd attempt to murder your bloodbag and hunter without one?"

Such tact.


End file.
